The contributors to this compassionate volume examine the need for greater understanding of the issues important to lesbians in order to decrease homophobic stereotypes and to demonstrate how the lesbian experience can serve as an ..

BOOKS

Hartmann, Heidi. “Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a More Progressive Union”. Sargent, Lydia (Ed.). Women and Revolution A Discussion of the Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1981.

Smith, Sidonie. A poetics of Women’s Autobiography. Marginality and the Fictions of Self-Representation. Idiana University Press. 1987.

Stoner, Lynn. “Militant Heroines and the Consecration of the Patriarchal State: The Glorification of Loyalty, Combat, and National Suicide in the Making of Cuban National Identity.” Cuban Studies. Vol. 34. 2003. Pp 71 – 96

R. Rosen, The World Split Open: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed America (2000).

1A. Sexism within Activism

Notes from a workshop on Sexism and Feminism within Activism that was, broadly speaking, divided into these four areas:

1) Introductions

2) Articulate game/Definitions

3) Discussion of Statements in Groups

4) Examples of Direct Action

Here we also have

5) Final thoughts/suggestions

***************

1) Introductions

As people introduced themselves and shared their opinions on the topic of the workshop, the words ‘patronising’, ‘not overt’, ‘subtle’ and ‘taboo’ were used to describe sexism within activism. The question was posed, how do we challenge sexism within activism without people thinking that we’re ‘just kicking up a fuss’?

Someone mentioned the feminist intervention at the Anarchist Conference in which a film was shown. The film and statement from and reflection on the action are all available here: http://nopretence.wordpress.com/

2) Articulate game/Definitions

In the game articulate, you have to describe a word by giving the definition or using synonyms, you cannot say the word or part of the word. We played this game with the following words, what fun!!

Eco- Feminism

Described as two words where the first one is like environmentalism and the second word is about women’s rights, the word was guessed quite quickly.

Eva said that she knows someone who wrote their dissertation drawing on eco-feminist theory, comparing animal rights and domestic violence and talking about theories of ownership.

We discussed the idea that eco-feminism can reaffirm patriarchal gender identities by, for example, suggesting that men are more closely related to the realm of the scientific and the industrial while women are thought of as caring and protective of mother nature. Many seemed to express disapproval of the kind of essentialist feminism that argues that women are inherently more peaceful and nature-loving and that if women ‘ran the world everything would be ok.’

Someone mentioned Maria Mies and the subsistence perspective, which she sums up here According to Wikipedia she has also written:

Indian Women and Patriarchy (1980)

Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale (1986),

(with Bennholdt-Thomsen and von Werlhof) Women: The Last Colony (1988)

Mies also co-wrote a book titled “The Subsistence Perspective” with Veronika Bennholdt-Thomsen

Anarcho-Feminism

Described as two words with one meaning opposition to the state and the second being about women. People guessed it very quickly. We discussed the way in which some (usually male) anarchists argue that there is no such thing as an anarcho-feminist as all anarchists are by definition feminists. We problematised this, non-feminist male anarchists certainly exist according to some peoples experiences.

It was pointed out that non-feminist anarchists see oppression in terms of state oppression and see violence in terms of state violence, so for example at the hands of the police. But they are less willing/able to see oppression in their own behaviour/personal settings. This lead to a discussion on different conceptions of power – as external domination only, or as constructed through language, discourse, assumptions, relations, etc – and it was stated that the latter view of power is necessary to challenge sexism within activism/anarchism.

The question was posed, can you be an anarchist woman and not be an anarcho-feminist? Someone answered that you could focus on the ‘main’ (i.e not gender specific) issues and not problematise the male/female/gendered hierarchy and still be an anarchist. So in other words yes to the question.

Biological Determinism

The person who was describing the word/term was not familiar with it previously but described it as two words the study of life being the first, and then someone guessed it!

We discussed the idea that one’s genitals should affect their ability to operate a vacuum cleaner or an oven. In other words the notion that biological differences should create patriarchal gendered identities/characteristics was problematised.

Lina said that in the Middle East this idea is accepted in most households. It was said that women might complain about it in private but they do not seem to challenge it. We talked about the way in which biological determinism is used in order to naturalise and justify the oppression of women with these frases being thrown around during discussions on the subject of feminism: “it’s just the way it is” and “you can’t change it” “it’s in our DNA etc.” In fact, we are starting to find that hormones are affected by environment and culture. Gender is culturally constructed not biologically determined at all!

We further discussed the notion that because you have a womb you are supposedly more caring or because you have a penis you are more violent. We did not neglect to talk about the way in which patriarchal gender identities/patriarchy/biological determinism is in this way also limiting for men.

Informal Hierarchies

We talked about the way in which informal hierarchies arise among activists and usually have men at the top. It can be very confusing when someone who says they are against hierarchies and domination acts in a way that is oppressive and dominating.

How do we challenge the emergence of these informal hierarchies?

Patriarchy

Was described as a system of control in which men are at the top. The all encompassing nature of the system was noted.

Traditional Gender Roles

Were described as how men and women are ‘supposed’ to act under patriarchy. They were noted for the relationship to biological determinism and the other issues we had talked about.

The feminist Seyla Benhabib was mentioned as having put forward a useful theory on the Right to Entry and Exit which is from Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era which is about the status of cultural relativist versus human rights claims in deliberative democracy.

Female Emancipation

Was described as two words – one meaning women and one being a synonym for freedom. It was agreed that female emancipation would involve a complete system change, you could not really liberate women without liberating all other oppressed people and totally getting rid of systems and institutions of economic/social/political oppression worldwide.

At this point it was noted by Andy that there is an important difference between difference feminists and equality feminists. Difference Feminists argue that men and women are fundamentally different, and that women are better where as Equality Feminists say that men and women are different but equal and should enjoy equal rights. It was noted that Liberal Feminists fall into the second category but are problematic because they seem to focus solely on reforming current (oppressive, hierarchical) institutions so that some women can become a part of them, but don’t seem to want to over throw the whole oppressive system. A good example would be a female business woman who is only a feminist because she wants to be a business woman. Socialist feminists were also said to be in the latter category of Equality feminists.

3) Discussion of Statements in Groups

We divided into pairs and discussed the following statements:

The displacement of women from agriculture disempowers women and reduces food security. Food systems evolved by women based on biodiversity based production rather than chemical based production produce hundreds of times more food, with better nutrition, quality, and taste. […]We need to strengthen women’s role in agriculture both to remove hunger and empower women. We need to redefine development from women’s perspective to ensure no one goes hungry or thirsty on this planet.

The group that discussed this statement and Vadana’s seed activism as revealed in the great documentary The Corporation. They also found that it seemed to reaffirm some of the essentialist’s claims about women and their inherent connection to the earth/caring nature as discussed earlier. Someone questioned whether she is really being essentialist or whether she is merely stating that this is what women have historically done; women have been responsible for feeding their family and have developed good ways of doing this.

The difference between minority world or so-called “Western” feminists and majority world feminists was highlighted here. Whereas minority world feminists have liked to talk about ‘sisterhood’ in the past, majority world feminists have been quick to point out that the conditions around the world differ greatly and women in the west do not have to contend with the kinds of extreme oppression and poverty that women from the majority world do. In addition, women in the west live in relatively comfortable conditions precisely because of the exploitation of women and men from the global majority. That is not to say that there cannot be female solidarity just that we must be aware of the different circumstances in which women around the world live. As a woman from the majority world, Vandana Shiva is understandably more concerned about starvation and climate change than she is about gender identities. Vadana Shiva’s latest book is called Soil Not Oil: Climate Change, Peak Oil and Food Insecurity

An interesting and relatively recent book on the subject of international feminist solidarity is CT Mohanty’s Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practising Solidarity. 2004.

The group raised an important point; the concept of gender itself must be problematised. It is helpful to think of gender in terms of a spectrum rather than two polar opposites. We must not accept the categories of “man” and “woman” unthinkingly.

This important insight into the importance of using the term gender as opposed to simply talking about “women” led to a brief discussion on Radical Feminism. The following quote was read out and discussed:

Just as the end goal of socialist revolution was not only the elimination of the economic class privilege but of the economic class distinction itself, so the end goal of feminist revolution must be, unlike that of the first feminist movement, not just the elimination of male privilege but of the sex distinction itself: genital differences between human beings would no longer matter culturally.

The way in which gender is socially constructed but also influential on other spheres was discussed in relation to J. Goldstein’s War and Gender How Gender Shapes the War System and Vice Versa Cambridge University Press. 2001 which argues that war is dependent on gender in a variety of ways but perhaps most obviously, the gendering of the battle front (male) and the home front (female). Goldstein also talks about the gendering or feminization of the peace movement (see some of the examples of women’s peace activism below, such as Greenham Common women’s peace camp). Other notable publications on the subject of gender and militarism are

The second group looked at the following statement about the anarcho-syndicalist, feminist, Spanish organisation, set up during the 1930s, Mujeres Libres or Free Women. The group was involved in popular education projects with previous illiterate peasant women who were taught politics, historand engineering and sciences among other subjects:

All these compañeros, however radical they may be in cafés, unions, and even affinity groups, seem to drop their costumes of lovers of female liberation at the doors of their homes.

Ackelsberg, Marta. Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women, Indiana University Press. 1991. Page 87.

Throughout the work of Mujeres Libres to educate women, they faced strong opposition from otherwise radical anarchist men. There is more about the group here the website of the Mexican Zapatista women’s group of the same name that aims to fight against neo-liberalism is here

The statement was discussed and the hypocrisy of some men who talk about revolutionising gender roles but then continue to expect women to fulfill all household tasks/traditional gender roles was exposed.

The final group looked at the following statement:

Patriarchal masculinity teaches men that their sense of self and identity, their reason for being, resides in their capacity to dominate others. To change this males must critique and challenge male domination of the planet, less powerful men, of women and children.

This group tried to unpack a lot of the terms in the statement – learn/teach (implies hidden curriculum and informal learning through roles), and capacity to dominate (implies it isn’t necessary to actually act violently to have the status of dominant male). The idea of “unlearning” was also raised. Another aspect of the author’s view appears to be a necessity of a big change (being consistently anti-capitalist and anti-patriarchy) to realise apparently small changes.

This group focused on the fact that men would have to re-learn everything they have been taught throughout life and would have to re-learn new identities and ways of behaving as the patriarchal masculine identity men have been socialised into is seen as so natural, it is sometimes hard to challenge. It was interpreted that racism is highlighted in the statement through the term “less powerful men” which was taken to mean men from the majority world. It was also mentioned that black women are doubly oppressed by racism and sexism. A few notable pieces of literature on this subject include:

All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some Of Us Are Brave. Edited by G.T Hull, P. Bell Scott, B. Smith.

Women, Race and Class Angela Davis

We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity. bell hooks.

Aint I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism bell hooks

4) Examples of Direct Action

The following examples of women’s direct action was passed around and discussed while the women-led direct action group Climate Rush, the Argentinean group, Las Madres de La Plaza de Mayo, the Colombian women’s group Ruta Pacifica and the Irish women who got passed soldiers in order to deliver bread to people during the 1970 Falls Curfew was also mentioned. The curfew was an unofficial, unapproved military lock-down of the Falls road area in Belfast for 36 hours. The RUC got a tip-off of an arms den in the area and claimed that they had been faced with substantial rioting and public disorder (never proved). It was highlighted that in many of these cases women have strategically mobilised their femininity for political ends. If the the aforementioned Irish women had approached the soldiers in an overtly political way they would have been denied access, but as the simply played the “we’re women we feed people that’s just what we do” card, they were able to bring in bread.

The group Women in Black was also highlighted for its international peace activism in many counties including the Palestinian occupied territories.

It was said that the all women’s peace camp was developed because there were incidents of sexual assault at mixed camps:

Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp 1981 – 2000

On the 5th September 1981, the Welsh group “Women for Life on Earth” arrived on Greenham Common, Berkshire, England. They marched from Cardiff with the intention of challenging, by debate, the decision to site 96 Cruise nuclear missiles there. On arrival they delivered a letter to the Base Commander which among other things stated ‘We fear for the future of all our children and for the future of the living world which is the basis of all life’.

When their request for a debate was ignored they set up a Peace Camp just outside the fence surrounding RAF Greenham Common Airbase. They took the authorities by surprise and set the tone for a most audacious and lengthy protest that lasted 19years. Within 6 months the camp became known as the Women’s Peace Camp and gained recognition both nationally and internationally by drawing attention to the base with well publicised imaginitive gatherings. This unique initiative threw a spotlight on ‘Cruise’ making it a national and international political issue throughout the 80s and early 90s.

The protest, committed to disrupting the exercises of the USAF, was highly effective. Nuclear convoys leaving the base to practice nuclear war, were blockaded, tracked to their practice area and disrupted. Taking non-violent direct action meant that women were arrested, taken to court and sent to prison.

WOZA, the acronym of Women of Zimbabwe Arise, is an Ndebele word meaning ‘come forward’. Now with a countrywide membership of over 70,000 women and men, WOZA was formed in 2003 as a women’s civic movement to:

Provide women, from all walks of life, with a united voice to speak out on issues affecting their day-to-day lives.

Empower female leadership that will lead community involvement in pressing for solutions to the current crisis.

Encourage women to stand up for their rights and freedoms.

Lobby and advocate on those issues affecting women and their families.

Established in 1977, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) is an independent women’s organisation fighting for human rights and social justice in Afghanistan. RAWA opposed the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan from 1979-89, as well as the subsequent mujahideen and Taliban governments, running underground schools for Afghan girls, publishing a journal and setting up humanitarian projects. Mariam Rawi, a member of RAWA’s foreign relations committee, answers Peace News’s questions about the current US-led occupation of Afghanistan.

RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, was established in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1977 as an independent political/social organization of Afghan women fighting for human rights and for social justice in Afghanistan. www.rawa.org

Possible themes that have arisen in the workshop but could be carried forward include:

– Women/gender and direct action

– Eco/Anarcho-feminisms

– Women/gender and the peace movement

– How do we challenge informal hierarchies?

– What will female emancipation look like?

– How can we challenge patriarchy in the here and now?

There was also an ideas share on the subject of women’s liberation/gender/patriarchy. Here is the blurb:

Feminism is for everyone!

A fully participatory workshop on the subject of feminisms and gender including games, discussions and the anarcho-feminist film shown during a feminist intervention at the Anarchist Conference. We will look at the following questions: What are anarcho/eco- feminisms? What is the significance of gender? How do we challenge patriarchy in the here and now? What would the destruction of patriarchy look like?